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Upcoming Math Competitions

Name of Organization

Website

Dates of Competitions

January 7, 2021; February 4, 2021; & March 11, 20201

Continental Math League

https://www.cmleague.com

USA Math Talent Search

http://www.usamts.org/TipsFAQ/U_Tips.php

TBA

November 12 - 25 Deadline: October 22, 2020

Noetic Learning Math Contest

http://www.noetic - learning.com/mathcontest/

April 8 - 22 Deadline: March 18, 2020

Purple Comet Math Meet

http://purplecomet.org/

April 6 - 15, 2021

Busting Blockbusters!

Many Hollywood movies have scenes that seem mathematically inaccurate, if not, impossible. Are these scenes truly impossi ble, or are they more plausible than they seem? The goal of the contest is to provide the best mathematical explanations for the following scene. The solutions that best explain a scene ’ s possibility or impossibility and the different elements that help form this will receive an award and the winner will be featured in the 47 (1) issue . Answers may be submitted by October 30, 2020 to vmt@radford.edu with the subject line: Busting Blockbusters entry .

Super - Sized Animals: The larger the animal, the better the movie! Hollywood is no stranger to making com mon animals larger than life—from newer releases like Rampage that toy with the idea of genetic engineering, to classics like King Kong that thrill with tales of a truly enor mous gorilla surviving on an island of dino saurs, there are countless examples of “ giant ” versions of real - life animals that seem to have kept their appeal throughout the decades. Why, though, do we not see such oversized creatures in the wild? What makes charac ters like King Kong so outlandish and im possible? Kong: Skull Island features the largest rendi tion of King Kong to date—measuring over 104 feet tall! Could a gorilla, maintaining its natural proportions, truly reach this height? What would happen if it does?

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 46, no. 2

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